Overview:
Family, friends and advocates laid to rest the 20-year-old Haitian man who died by suicide in September. They said a shift in immigration policies threw his plans for education off-track, leaving him severely distraught. Now, they hope his death will trigger protections for those like him facing chaos and uncertainty amid the administration’s “cruel” treatment.
Pierres Ronal Bel shared that he hasn’t been able to sleep since viewing the body of his son Pierre Damas Bel, who died by suicide after walking in front of a trailer truck.
‘Whenever someone opens the front door, I have the sense that it is him coming home. I live with this illusion that he is coming back one day.’
Bel’s stepmother Landy St. Juste told a congregation that it was thanks to Bel completing a job application for her that she was employed. And, once she got the job, the young man she called ‘Da’ often checked in on her during the day and continued to act as her personal interpreter whenever she needed.
‘Damas left me with this emptiness.’
Pierre Damas Bel’s brother and cousin likewise relayed just how much was a fixture in their lives.
‘You were always there for me whenever I needed someone,’ Theodore Bradley Bel, the brother, shared. ‘You always made me feel like I was never alone. You were someone I could always count on.’
Jennifer Elisé, a cousin with whom Bel grew up in Haiti before both moved to the U.S., lamented not knowing his state of mind or emotional distress.
‘He was always there for me, but never showed a sign of depression,’ she wrote. ‘I feel so weak and guilty. I wasn’t able to realize he was not okay while he was always showing up for me.’
In another part of her letter, Elisé’s self-blame was evident.
‘Maybe I could have told him something that could have cheered him up and saved him from doing such a thing. I am trying my best to keep going just for him. But I don’t even know what tomorrow is going to be like as an immigrant in this country.’
So went the expressions of pain from the 20-year-old’s death, as read by Rose-Thamar Joseph, a family designee, during a poignant 2-hour funeral service Saturday that drew hundreds, including Gov. Mike DeWine and other officials, and even more viewers online via livestream.
From the virtual broadcast inside St. John Missionary Baptist Church, leading voices advocating for Haitian immigrants also joined with the family to not only mourn the bright, dedicated young man. Linking the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policies – particularly the use of ankle monitors – to Bel’s death, they also called out the United States government for inflicting such “cruelty” on immigrants and urged the hundreds in attendance to reject the current administration.
From the pulpit, the speakers looked upon Bel’s purple-hued casket laid out before then, decorated with a photo of him donning his high school graduation cap and gown.
“Yes, our dear friend and brother might have died by suicide, but he was killed by the system,” said Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, which collaborated with Springfield’s Haitian Support Center to plan the funeral service.
Switching from English into Haitian Creole, as many speakers did throughout, Joseph elaborated.
“It’s the laws the government put in place that killed him” she said. “It’s the inhumanity that killed him. In the cruelty, in the taking of dignity – that is what killed him.”
A tanker truck fatally struck Pierre Damas Bel, 20, after authorities said he walked in front of the vehicle on I-70. His family said they want proof the death was intentional
Born in southern Haiti’s Tiburon and raised there and in Les Cayes, Bel attended École Immaculée Conception, before moving to the U.S. legally through the Biden-era humanitarian program in 2024.
One of his goals, according to immigrant advocate Yola Lamarre, was to build a hospital in Haiti. He moved full speed ahead to secure the education needed by excelling at Springfield High School, joining the local JROTC and playing varsity soccer for the Wildcats. He also worked at Texas Roadhouse.
After graduating with honors in spring 2026, his published obituary says he was bound to Wittenberg University with a full scholarship. When the Trump administration revoked the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) status of an estimated 350,000 Haitians, Bel decided to continue his education at Wright State University – still intent on becoming a doctor.
However, ICE summoned him in July and fitted a GPS monitor on his left ankle that he said via Instagram left him with “a feeling of shame and humiliation.”
During Saturday’s service, Jozef said that Bel had asked ICE officers twice to remove the ankle monitor. His exchange with them further humiliated the youth.
“He said the ankle monitor was too hot and he stuffed a sock between it and his skin,” Jozef recounted. “ICE told him ‘if he could insert a sock there, then it [the device] wasn’t tight enough.”
“He told them ‘I had to put a sock between my skin and the device. It was uncomfortable. It was hot. I had to call my father to come soothe it,’” Jozef recounted. “And they said ‘We are going to tighten it up.’
“That is what killed Pierre Damas Bel.”
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In laying him to rest, many leaders also urged supporters to continue lifting up the family. They reminded mourners and viewers to help by donating to the Bel family’s GoFundMe, which had raised more than $40,000 as of this writing.
Ohio state representative Latyna M. Humphrey, in a rousing speech that drew much applause, also urged support for Senate Bill 4814 . The congressional bill seeks to extend protections for Haitians.
“We cannot let his death be in vain,” Humphrey said. “The Word says faith without works is dead.
“[Are] you willing to pull up your boots and fight, because these wonderful people belong in this country, belong in this state – and we want them here? We need support to ensure that they can stay.”
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